New Hens Pecking

[MinerQuad]

Okay, I thought I got a great deal on these three chickens from Auction. They two are Brahma cross and one is a Red Sex Link. Last night the RSL was viciously attack one of my Wyandottes (whom I've had the longest)....of course my favorite! I was in the pen and I couldn't get the RSL to let go of the Wy's head. I couldn't stand it any longer and my husband took it to a friends farm. She has a bit of dried blood on her head (the Wyandotte) but they all went in to roost last night....minus the bully.

This morning I let them all out of the coop and threw down a bit of scratch. Everyone seem to be doing fine, when one of my Buff Orps pecked the victim Wy on the head. Then the new Brahma X (that came with the offending RSL) started puffing up her head and attacking the Wy.

A bit of History: I got 2 BLR Wyandottes (one being the victim) and 2 Leghorns about 3 weeks ago. They all came from the same farm, vey nice farm, well taken care of and free from any ailments or bugs. They all get along wonderfully. A lady in my garden club had a mink getting in and killing her flock, so she called my friend to come get the rest, they were Buff Orps. My girlfriend knew I wanted Buffs so she gave me two. I added them to my flock 4 days ago. Everyone seem to mesh well together... i.e., no pecking or fighting. The Buffs kinda stayed together, but they all wandered around with no problem. Yesterday, I got the 2 Brahma X's and the RSL from an auction, within hours the pecking began.

We have a coop and run. The Coop is a 4 x 8 and the run is 20 x 10 at least. The plan is to let them free range our yard once they've been settled here.

I am a new chicken keeper. Is this expected? Can I prevent this? Can I do anything? Please help! It makes me so sad to see Jeanette getting attacked.

Thank you!!!

Amanda

 

[jjparke]

I never mix flocks. Seems like the RSL is trying to establish some dominance. If it continues to be a problem I would just have her for dinner. It's not worth the hassle.

 

[MinerQuad]

The RSL is gone... I am just unsure how to proceed from here. How to manage the Wyandotte? Prevent the others from now pecking her to pieces?

 

[acid_chipmunk]

Well, the Wyandotte that got attacked the second time probably got attacked because of the blood. Chickens will peck at anything that isn't "normal" on their friends.

Also, I wouldn't have brought new started birds home and immediately put them in with the rest of my flock, that is just asking for something to go wrong. You really should quarantine them for 30 days before adding them to your existing birds. Also, this will give them time to see, but not be confined with the new birds and they will get used to each other. Even so, once adding them all together, they will have to re-do the pecking order to see who is on top and so forth.

 

[MinerQuad]

Thanks for being patient with a newbie. I had naively thought since my friend dropped off two Buffs and let them right in with my existing 4 that I could do the same. The big difference was tha my friend KNEW where the buffs came from, their health, the conditions they lived in and what their poo looked like. I knew nothing about the 3 I got from Aucton.

I am such an idiot. I read about everything before I do it and this I just did without thinking. Everyone is getting on fine now. I believe the order is sorted out, but just as expected, someone has diarrhea, no blood, no worms, nothing looking abnormal, but diarrhea nonetheless. I have been studying pictures of POO.... how fun! But everything looks normal. I bought some plain yogurt today and will see how that goes.

Thanks for all the input. I will be watching very closely to make sure I didn't just make a HUGE mistake!

I really like all my ladies and I would hate to think I just made an ill fated mistake!!!

Thank you all for your knowledge and experience, advice and direction!

Amanda